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Choir Master ofPopayán, 1621

•  Detailed here is the last will and testament of the choir master of Popayán, Colombia. Ramírez was an absentee office holder, for he lived in Peñafiel, Spain, indulged in this failure to take up his duties in the New World by the bishop of Popayán—who happened to be his uncle. The choir master’s wealth was considerable and while not itemized as in an estate inventory, it is more than hinted at via the bequests here of real estate (with provenance), of silver and gold chalices and crosses, and of cash in the form of coin. The bequests also give an interesting picture of the size of his family and the ranking of nieces, nephews, etc.

Certified, contemporary copy of the original.

•  Sewn. In good condition. Very legible notarial hand.

The Choir Master’s Nephew’s Widow

  Gets the (that’s, HER!) Children

•  Don Alonso Ramírez was the past choir master of Popayán, Colombia, and his nephew Diego Ramírez Carrillo gave him power of attorney to his (Diego’s) last will and testament and to compile the requisite inventory of the estate. María de la Puente, widow of Diego is appointed the tutor and guardian of Diego’s and her minor children. The will is very standard with bequests for masses, etc. The inventory of possessions is lengthy and very detailed, showing Diego to have been a man of some wealth. Contemporaneous certified copy of the original document. Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.

•  Written in a clear notarial hand, but with bleed-through in the inventory, making reading slightly challenging — not, impossible. Very good condition.

The Choir Master OwnedVineyards
   (& Maria Got Those, Too)

•  Don Alonso Ramírez was the past choir master of Popayán, Colombia, and by this document gives various properties to María de la Puente, widow of Diego Ramírez Carrillo (Don Alonso’s nephew) and Doña Isabel Ramírez Carrillo, Maria’s daughter. The properties include a vineyard (“nueve viñas” that Don Alonso bought from Diego on 9 March 1591; another (“viña a Manzanillo”) that he bought from Juan Arranz, the elder, citizen of Manzanillo, on 7 December 1612; a third vineyard (“viña a Majuelo”) that he purchased from Francisco Santos and his wife (María Muñoz), citizens of Manzanillo, on 20 April 1614; a piece of land in Manzanillo, in the region called “tierras de las Tapias,” sown with two cargas of seed, purchased from Gaspar Decian on 6 January 1586; and a house in the parish of Nuestra Señora de Mediavilla that he purchased on 16 July 1605 from the administrators of the trust that Joratalina Sarmiento established. Click the image for an enlargement.

A contemporaneous certified copy of the original document.

•  Written in a clear notarial hand. Very good condition.

Caribbean Territories — Early 19th-Century U.S., Canada, & California
Oversized Folding Map — 28 Steel-Engraved Plates

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  First edition: Vol. 5 of the American portion of L'Univers: Histoire et description de tous les peuples, sometimes known as L'Univers pittoresque, an ambitious encyclopedic series attempting to describe the entire world.

This volume from the famous Didot press is illustrated with an oversized folding map of the Antilles and 28 steel-engraved plates depicting architectural, natural, and sociological views, including a railroad in Cuba, the harbor at Quebec, the Theatre St. Charles in New Orleans, an interior view of the “Pénitencier de Philadelphie” (Eastern State Penitentiary) and exterior view of the “Prison de Comté de Philadelphie” (Moyamensing Prison, prior to the addition of the Egyptian Revival-style debtors' apartment), “Guerriors Indiens, Chefs Assiniboins,” a bison hunt on horseback, and beavers at work.

•  Palau 256194; Sabin 68924.   19th-century quarter dark green morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; light rubbing overall, corners bumped, spine slightly sunned. Offsetting from plates and occasional light to moderate spotting.  (24885)

ABogotá Newspaper Prospectus — 1822!

•  Prospectuses for colonial- and early-republic-era Latin American newspapers are virtually unknown, and this one does much more than announce the inauguration of La Indicación. The newspaper's editor, Sr. Ricaurte, also reviews the state of newspaper printing in the cities of Gran Colombia, and in doing so raises a bibliographical question: Writing in July of 1822, he here states that there is a weekly newspaper being published in Panama, then the capital of one of Gran Colombia's provinces. Today the earliest known newspaper from Panama is the Gaceta del Istmo de Panamá that was established in 1823—so to what newspaper did Ricaurte refer? Or was the Gaceta earlier than previously thought?

La Indicación survived only long enough to publish 26 numbers and is now a very rare newspaper. Ricaurte had begun his printing career as Galagarza's partner in the operation of the Colombian government's printing press (La Imprenta del Gobierno).

Very rare: No copies located in NUC Pre-1956 or on OCLC or RLIN.

•  Not in Posada, Bibliografía bogotana; not in Palau. Removed from a nonce volume but in excellent condition.

Lima Mourns Charles III

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•  Fr. Rico, an Oratorian, describes the memorial services in Lima on the occasion of the death of King Carlos III, as well as the commemorative art work and its Latin-language epigraphs. Fray Bernardon Rueda's “Oracion funebre que en las solemnes exequias del Rey nuestro señor don Carlos III” has a sectional title-page and its own pagination; the folding plate is of the funeral monument erected in the king's memory.

Rare: WorldCat locates only two copies in the U.S.

An important source on the social and artistic life of Lima in the decade following the Tupac Amaru rebellion.

•  John Carter Brown Library, Catalogue, 1493-1800, III,324; Medina, Lima, 1697; Sabin 73902; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 2546.   Contemporary limp vellum with late, neatly inked title on spine. Some foxing. Plate lacking lower half and small portion of upper one; a handsome skeleton (memento mori) archer is the focus of what remains. Bookplate sometime removed; rubber-stamps on several pages, including title, reading (yes, in English), “Bought of F. Perez Velasco October 1912.”  (25771)

Very Early VENEZUELAN Imprint

Relating to INDEPENDENCE!

•  Young Rivas, son of one of the leaders of the first independent government in Venezuela, calls on all Venezuelans to unite, saying “the inhabitants of this city” have overthrown an illegitimate government, have established a “supreme authority,” and are now breathing “the air of Independence.” He points out the remaining provinces are the body of the new nation and that without them Caracas is merely a bodyless head. “Unite or die” is his plea, and by doing so, “[w]e will form a nation that will know how to maintain the honor of the Spanish people and that will make all others respect us.” Click the image for an enlargement.

The origins of printing in Venezuela are still, at this late date, shrouded in shadows. There remain questions of whether itinerant printers established themselves now and then for short periods of time, printing a form or booklet — and definitely some playing cards — and then moving on. The accepted date for “the beginning” of printing in Venezuela is October, 1808, with the arrival of the press of Gallagher and Lamb and this issuance of the first issue of Andrés Bello’s Gazeta de Caracas.

Very Rare. This broadside was unknown to Medina and is only the 16th item in Pedro Grases chronological list of things printed in Venezuela. In his entry he located only the copies in the Public Record Office (London) and the Archivo de Indias (Seville). Searches of NUC, OCLC, and RLIN fail to find any copy at all. Further, no copies were found when searching the OPACs of the national libraries of Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, France, and England.

•  Not in Medina, Caracas. Graces, Historia de la imprenta en Venezuela, Reportorio #16; Villasana, VI, 108. As issued; minor worming in foremargin; repaired. A very good copy.

Printed inPhiladelphia . . .

•  The author of this was a native of Antioquia, a lawyer, and a diplomat; he wrote this treatise while serving as the Venezuelan plenipotentiary minister to the United States. It was printed for the first time in Philadelphia, and appeared simultaneously in two editions, one in English and the other in Spanish. Writing in hopes of influencing the congress of Grand Colombia, which in 1826 was considering revising the constitution, Salazar offers his noteworthy, extended thoughts on what political organization would be best.

This is a very scarce book. Palau did not know of this English translation, and fewer than eight U.S. libraries report owning a copy of it.

•  Palau 286648 (for the Spanish-language edition); Sabin 75576; Shoemaker 35093a. Recent quarter dark green morocco with marbled paper sides. Pages 3 through 6 are supplied in xerographic facsimile. Browning and foxing.

ICAPTURED Their Guns
    & I Seized Their Press !

•  Commander of the Royalist forces and soon-to-be viceroy Juan Sámano publishes for the general public Gen. Morillo's operational report of 12 December 1817, from Calabozo, Venezuela. In it the Royalist general details his successful campaigns against Simón Bolívar and José Antonio Páez. He details the arms and armaments captured and records that in one engagement not only obtained two fine bronze cannons, but also one of Bolívar's portable presses!

•  Posada, Bibliografía bogotana, II, 322. Very fine condition.

An Easter Sermon

•  Easter-tide sermon on Christ and the Cross. Larrain eventually rose to be archbishop.

•  Not in Palau. Modern light wrappers, lacking original wrappers. Very good condition.

The KEYSTONE of Hispanic-American Colonial Law
A VeryHANDSOME Edition

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•  Handsome mid-19th century edition of the first comprehensive compilation of the laws of the Spanish Indies. Antonio Rodríguez de León Pinello compiled it by 1635, but it circulated only in manuscript until Fernando Jiménez de Paniagua brought it up to date and saw the result through the press in 1681. Prior to the publication of this massive work, it was common practice for lawyers and courts in the various legal districts of the New World (i.e., audiencias) to compile in manuscript the laws in force in order that they might be used as precedents. Upon publication of this code, the number of precedents did not (as might have been expected) decrease via "regularization" but instead increased: The courts continued to accept the cases and laws on point in the old local manuscript compilations and also those contained in the Recopilación!

In sum, this is a major work for all collections of international and Hispanic-specific law. The first edition is very uncommon in today's marketplace, meaning most scholars and collectors must settle for a later edition, such as this fifth—which has the happy advantage of being handsomely printed in double-column format. This copy is attractively bound, as well.

•  Palau 137466; Sabin 68390. Victorian acid-stained sheep with gilt spines extra. Marbled edges. Tape adhered to one title-page at inner margin. Ownershjp signatures on title-page. A nice set.

Troublesome Soldiers to FaceCriminal Courts

Spain.

•  Mexico City printing of the royal decree of 31 August 1799 in which the crown declares null and void the use of the fuero militar in cases of mutiny, attempted mutiny, and rebellion. He orders that all such cases fall under the jurisdiction of the audiencias and not the military courts.

•  Not in Medina, Mexico; not in González de Cossío, Cien; not in not in González de Cossío, 510.   Removed from a nonce volume. Left margin irregular.  (25824)

Alto Peru — An Exceptional “Natural Son”

•  While granting permission for one particular supplicant (in Alto Peru) to take religious vows and to obtain benefices despite his illegitimate birth, the King reiterates to the ecclesiastical authorities that natural and other illegitimate sons are not to be regularly accepted into holy orders.

•  Folded as issued.

The King . . . Appeases His Abused
    ACCOUNTANTS . . .

•  The officials of the Royal Accounting Office in Buenos Aires have complained to the king of ill-treatment at the hands of other government officials, and the king here declares how the accountants are to be treated.

•  Folded as issued.

An AMERICAN Dissatisfied with New-Granada

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•  First edition of this travel account, in which Steuart describes his journey from New York to Bogotá and Carthagena. The author, who opens by debunking “Extravagant Ideas prevalent regarding South America” (p. 13), is highly critical of the local virtue, temperament, religious observances, apparel, and cuisine (complaining particularly of excessive cumin and garlic), reserving his praise primarily for the excellent chocolate. In his concluding remarks, he expresses much pessimism regarding any possibility of successful international commerce with the South American states.

Binding:  Publisher's ribbon-embossed green floral-patterned cloth of Krupp's style Ft6.

•  American Imprints 53109; Palau 322394; Sabin 91388. Not in Smith, American Travellers Abroad. On the binding, see: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823--50.   Publisher's green floral-patterned cloth, spine with printed paper label; corners and spine foot rubbed, spine head pulled, paper label darkened with edges chipped. Front free endpaper with pencilled ownership inscription; occasional pencilled annotations and marks of emphasis. Light to moderate foxing.  (25425)

NOT Unopinionated

•  First American edition of this Englishwoman's highly opinionated account of a trip, with her 12-year old daughter Victoria, through eastern and southern U.S.A., Mexico, Cuba, Panama, and Peru.

Of Philadelphia: “All night a sound as of a masque and procession of one hundred menageries let loose, filled one's ears. The deserts of Africa seemed to have disgorged half their denizens on the beautiful streets of fair Philadelphia; while bells, horns, gongs, and rattling fire-engines, helped to swell the hideous chorus . . . To any one not participating in these sentiments, Philadelphia can not be an eligible place of residence, I think: Sancho Panza certainly would shun it; for blessed, he declared, was the man who invented sleep.”

With 16 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end.

•  Sabin 93220; Howes W-687; Clark, Travels in the Old South, III, 419.   Publisher's brown cloth, stamped in gilt on the spine, in blind on covers. Cloth of spine frayed at head and foot; spot of black ink on spine, partially covering two gilt letters. Pages foxed throughout, intermittently water- or dampstained at lower edges, free of chips or tears. Faint early ink inscriptions on front free endpaper. Good+.  (24570)

Bureaucracies WereALWAYS Bureaucracies
  (Humans Have Always Been Human)

•  The Commandant General of the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, returns a circular misdirected to him. It should have gone to Administrators of the Treasury at Potosí and concerns the "number of letras de cambio" that they should be sending to the capital.

•  Very good condition. Waterstain in upper margin, not affecting text.

Colonial Support for theRoyal Retreat — MS. Accounting, 1781–85

(Subsidies for the Escorial).

•  Certified copy of a document relating to the 13,200 ducats annually due the monks of the monastery of the Escorial in Spain, promised them in perpetuity by King Philip IV in 1654. In exchange for this annual subsidy of proceeds from encomiendas in Huaylas, Chuquitanta, Conchucas, and other regions in Peru, the monks promised to say masses and to do certain other religious acts for the crown. This document contains specific and detailed accounting data for the years 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1785.

•  Sewn, in good condition.

History of Europe & America Too (1500–68)

Click the images above for enlargements.

•  In this work Surius (1522–78) seeks to cover world events in the 16th century and to present a continuation of the chronicle that Johann Vergen (a.k.a. Joannes Nauclerus) published at Cologne in 1564. Surius, Carthusian monk, compiled the work with the clear intention of presenting a Catholic viewpoint in opposition to other works then in circulation favoring a Protestant one of religious events in Europe, especially the work of Sleidanus, who is singled out repeatedly in the text for criticism.

Coverage of events is wide-ranging and includes Russia, Lithuania, Persia, Byzantium, and the New World. Columbus, Vespucci, and native American cannibalism are discussed under the year 1500; and under 1558 there is a combined account of the exploits of Pizarro in Peru and Cortés in Mexico, with some discussion of Brazil and other areas up to that time.

Printed in small roman type with side- and shouldernotes, historiated woodcut initials, and a printer’s device on the title-page.

•  VD16 S10244; Adams S2099; Alden 568/30; Sabin 93882. Modern full dark calf, in style of the 16th-century including bevelled boards; remnants of clasps retained from an earlier binding. Signature or other ownership mark excised from blank area of title-page. 19th-century ownership inscription at base of title-page. Light waterstaining in some margins. Lacks final blank leaf (only). A very good copy.

TO Part VIII . . .

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